5 U.s. Soldiers, 2 Iraqi Troops Die In Attack

An Assault With A Car Bomb And Mortars Collapses A Building Used As Sleeping Quarters.

July 9, 2004|By Alex Rodriguez, Chicago Tribune

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents unleashed a combined mortar and car-bomb attack Thursday in Samara that killed five U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi national-guard troops, sparking an afternoon of clashes and firefights in the "Sunni triangle" city.

The outbreak of violence, one of the fiercest exchanges between U.S. troops and insurgents since the U.S.-led coalition relinquished sovereignty nearly two weeks ago, came just a day after Iraq's interim government vowed to crush the 15-month-old resistance with a host of tougher security measures, including the power to impose martial law.

Guerrillas attacked a building used as sleeping quarters by U.S. 1st Infantry Division troops and Iraqi national-guard soldiers, firing at least 38 mortar rounds at the building and detonating a car bomb outside the structure, Master Sgt. Robert Powell of the 1st Infantry Division said. It was not known whether the car bomb was a suicide attack.

The midmorning attack caused the building to collapse. In addition to the seven dead, at least 20 U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi guard troops were wounded.

Fighting in the streets continued through the afternoon as U.S. and Iraqi security forces teamed in patrols to track down insurgents. Apache helicopters fired Hellfire missiles at a building where four guerrillas took refuge, destroying the building and killing the insurgents, Powell said.

The violence also killed three civilians, medical officials said. As many as 44 people were wounded, The Associated Press reported.

Before the attack Thursday, a U.S. military convoy in Samara was targeted by a roadside bomb that wounded one U.S. soldier, Maj. Neal O'Brien of the 1st Infantry Division said.

Late Thursday, four large explosions were heard at an Iraqi base in the town of Mishahda, north of Baghdad. Volleys of gunfire broke out immediately afterward. U.S. military officials had no immediate comment.

In another attack, gunmen along the road from Samara to Balad strafed a truck, killing two Turkish drivers and causing the vehicle to flip, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, an explosion killed former senior Baath Party official Ali Abbas Hassan as he left his textile factory in Baghdad, police Lt. Anmar Yassin said. Authorities didn't know the cause of the explosion.

Explosions were also heard in Fallujah, the Sunni city considered a haven for militants seeking to attack U.S. and Iraqi forces. Several airstrikes have been launched at suspected safe houses thought linked to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Samara, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, is one of several cities within the Sunni triangle regarded as pockets or strongholds of resistance against U.S. and Iraqi security forces. Also Thursday, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered her country's contract workers not to travel to Iraq, after insurgents threatened to kill a Filipino hostage if the Philippines continues to keep its 51 soldiers in Iraq.

More than 4,000 Filipino civilians work as contractors for the U.S. military, serving food, cleaning toilets and forming the backbone of the support staff for U.S. troops.

Arroyo did not react Thursday to the demand for the withdrawal of troops. A videotape broadcast Wednesday on Arab television showed the Filipino hostage with three armed, masked men. They gave the Philippines three days to complete the withdrawal.

The Philippine charge d'affaires in Baghdad, Ricardo Endaya, confirmed that the hostage was a Filipino abducted near Fallujah. ABS-CBN TV, quoting the Philippine ambassador in Qatar, identified him as Angelo dela Cruz, a truck driver who crossed into Iraq from Saudi Arabia.

Separately, a group loyal to insurgent leader al-Zarqawi threatened today to execute two Bulgarian hostages if the U.S. military did not release all Iraqi detainees within 24 hours, according to a videotape broadcast on Al-Jazeera television.

Meanwhile, one of seven military police soldiers implicated in the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was issued additional charges Thursday, as Army officials accused Pfc. Lynndie R. England of indecent acts with another soldier and indecent exposure, four days before she is supposed to appear at a preliminary court hearing in North Carolina.